Bees and Pesticides (again)

The same day that I published my piece about bees and pesticides, the Pesticide Action Network released a report titled Honey Bees and Pesticides: State of the Science. It’s basically an annotated bibliography of some of the major papers over the last 9 years.

Their introduction was… well:

“Two increasingly intractable sides have emerged in this controversy:
beekeepers and environmental health advocates vs. pesticide companies and the scientists supported by them.”

That Us vs. Them language is really disturbing. I happen to be a scientist, and a beekeeper, and an environmental health advocate. I don’t always agree with everything PAN does, but I agree much more than I disagree. (It’s also a little odd that they would begin with this sort of divisive language, and then….turn to the products of scientists to prove their point.)

It didn’t take long before I was accused of being a “pesticide shill” after my last post cautioning that neonicotinoids are not the sole cause of colony collapse disorder. Trust me, I am sooooo not raking in the big chemical daddy bucks.

I’ve never said that pesticides are safe, or that they don’t harm bees–just that the story is complex.

Nuance: I Haz It.

Personally? I think the biggest threats to honey bees are a combination of many factors–and to focus on one exclusively will not help us solve the problem. I WISH that the issue really was just the neonicotinoid class of pesticides, because that would give us an easy “off” switch for the problem. Ban the pesticides, bees come back. Solved.

“There is no direct link demonstrated between neonicotinoids and the honeybee bee syndrome known as Colony Collapse Disorder. However, recent research suggests that nenonicotinoids may make honey bees more susceptible to parasites and pathogens….which has been implicated as one causitive factor for CCD.”

The Xerces paper is probably the best review of the recent research that you are going to find. Not only is it written by Xerces scientists, who are folks what really know their bees, it also was reviewed by several other bee researchers I have a great deal of respect for.

Xerces thoroughly documents what we know about these pesticides and bees–and, unfortunately, we don’t know nearly enough. Most of the published research focuses on honey bees, rather than the native bee species in the US. (Honey bees are an introduced species in North America). That means we don’t have much data to work with to figure out how different bee species will be affected. When you look at this chart of pesticide effects on native bees…we have no freakin’ clue how they are affected.

Personally, I found the most disturbing piece of the Xerces report to be their discovery of how many of these neonicotinoid insecticides are available over the counter to homeowners. Calculating pesticide application rates is one of the toughest parts of farming (or pesticide applicator exams), and Xerces does the math to uncover some startling facts:

“Products approved for homeowners to use in gardens, lawns, and on ornamental trees have manufacturer-recommended application rates up to 120 times higher than rates approved for agricultural crops.

Many neonicotinoid pesticides that are sold to homeowners for use on lawns and gardens do not have any mention of the risks of these products to bees, and the label guidance for products used in agriculture is not always clear or consistent.

Neonicotinoids can persist in soil for months or years after a single application. Measurable amounts of residues were found in woody plants up to six years after application.”

That is really scary.

Xerces raises some very important questions about what this means for our native bees that are already struggling with habitat loss and a spill-over of parasites and pathogens from introduced bee species. Butterflies, beetles, and flies also drink nectar and feed on pollen–pretty much any of our pollinators, including hummingbirds, could be affected if they feed on trees and plants treated with these insecticides.

I would like to see new labeling so consumers know that these products have the potential to kill bees and other pollinators, as well as a review of application rates for over-the-counter formulations.

Unfortunately, because neonicotinoid pesticides are so very useful in agriculture, there are no easy answers. The things that make these compounds so very well suited for so many purposes–their ability to remain stable for a long time and spread through plant tissues–are also why they pose dangers for pollinating insects.

But we have to look at the whole picture to figure out how to make things right for bees.

Digital Trophallaxis:

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4 Comments

Off topic, but I figure it is worth alerting you and all of the world’s other entomologists – all of whom I’m sure read your blog! Anthony Watts is having a go at what to me sounds like an excellent bit of research over at Watts up with that:

Nice review! There are certainly also a lot of declines in certain native pollinator species that go unexplained, many of which predate the widespread use of neonicotinoids. Focusing on the one problem may obscure some larger issues.

so, you’re saying that maybe, allowing homeowners to buy whatever they want, dispense it in whatever amounts, whenever and where ever they like, might be a bad thing? ok. so, you’re a shill for the pesticide companies, AND a shill for PETA? clearly, you are evil.

ok, on a serious note, are there any studies on how the introduced honey bees have affected the native bumble bee or other bee populations? if starlings and house sparrows have, directly and indirectly affected native bird populations, I would imagine the same would be for honey bees.

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